Ask the Author: J.A. Ironside
Answered Questions (13)
J.A. Ironside
I was hoping to get Take the Low Road out this month, however a number of factors have thwarted me (health, work, other projects etc). So I'll aim for early February 2025 BUT if I can bring the release date forward, I will.
At present, Take the Low Road is almost done on its final edit. The following few books - Winter's Teeth, Born to Endless Night, She Who Fights Monsters - are all written. And the final book - The Evil that Men Do - is about 20k words off being complete (hoping to finish that first draft over Christmas).
I really was hoping to get the rest of Season 3 of Harker & Blackthorn out in 2024, but life got in the way. Definitely be releasing the rest of the series in 2025.
At present, Take the Low Road is almost done on its final edit. The following few books - Winter's Teeth, Born to Endless Night, She Who Fights Monsters - are all written. And the final book - The Evil that Men Do - is about 20k words off being complete (hoping to finish that first draft over Christmas).
I really was hoping to get the rest of Season 3 of Harker & Blackthorn out in 2024, but life got in the way. Definitely be releasing the rest of the series in 2025.
J.A. Ironside
Hi, thanks for the question :) I'm planning to release Take the Low Road (Harker & Blackthorn book 12) in June 2024. I apologise - I'm really behind schedule due to some health issues but my intention is to release the last four novels and final two novellas in the series by January 2025. So hopefully there should be a decent number of new Harker & Blackthorn books this year. Thanks for bearing with me.
J.A. Ironside
Hi :) technically that short story hasn't been published yet. It was a winter solstice freebie for my newsletter readers last year. Since a lot of people havevjoined since then, it'll be reissued this year as a yule/ xmas freebie along with Endless Sonata and a couple of other bits and pieces including a new xmas story. These will all be collected with the H&B novellas and published as a collection in Autumn 2024 too.
J.A. Ironside
Hi Raymond. Thanks for reaching out. There isn't a quick or straightforward answer to this, so with your permission I will message you with a fuller reply. (Assuming that's ok with you? Just drop me a DM.)
In short, the following may help:
Check out Joanna Penn's website The Creative Penn - especially this post The whole site is a good place to start if you're new to creating and publishing books.
You can offer free copies (arcs - advanced review copies) to readers in exchange for honest reviews. There are sites like Library Thing, BookSprout, Hidden Gems etc which allow readers to access arcs.
You could look for a company that will organise a blog tour. This does cost money but you are not paying for reviews - you are paying for the company to organise the appearance of your book on various different blogs of a similar genre. A quick google should net you some leads to follow up.
You can approach book reviewers/ book bloggers/ book tubers directly. Most have an email address you can contact them on. Just send them a polite email, introduce yourself, tell them a bit about your book and offer them a review copy. Make sure you pick bloggers who read in your genre - I used to book blog and it's very frustrating, not to mention rude, when an author doesn't bother to check your statement to find out what you actually read. Some will say no, some will just never reply, but a few will say yes. Offer only the first book to start with - no one really wants to find three books from an unknown author in their inbox. I know that you want reviews on all of them and I completely understand how you feel, but this is a long game.
You might also ask your beta readers, friends, family (if the latter two read in your genre) writing group members (if you're part of a group) will provide an honest review. You need to be careful of anyone closely connected with you posting a review on amazon, however they can post on Goodreads, their own blogs or other sites where your book is available.
You could also join a few groups in the relevant genre here on Goodreads. Just search groups and find ones which interest you. The goal is to make connections so don't just arrive and ask people to read your book. See if there are other authors who would be willing to trade review for review - you read their book, they read yours. You'll need to check group guidelines etc. The best thing you can do is make friends in the bookish community.
See how you get on with some of those suggestions. Hopefully a few of them will lead to other things you can try. Best of luck, Jules
In short, the following may help:
Check out Joanna Penn's website The Creative Penn - especially this post The whole site is a good place to start if you're new to creating and publishing books.
You can offer free copies (arcs - advanced review copies) to readers in exchange for honest reviews. There are sites like Library Thing, BookSprout, Hidden Gems etc which allow readers to access arcs.
You could look for a company that will organise a blog tour. This does cost money but you are not paying for reviews - you are paying for the company to organise the appearance of your book on various different blogs of a similar genre. A quick google should net you some leads to follow up.
You can approach book reviewers/ book bloggers/ book tubers directly. Most have an email address you can contact them on. Just send them a polite email, introduce yourself, tell them a bit about your book and offer them a review copy. Make sure you pick bloggers who read in your genre - I used to book blog and it's very frustrating, not to mention rude, when an author doesn't bother to check your statement to find out what you actually read. Some will say no, some will just never reply, but a few will say yes. Offer only the first book to start with - no one really wants to find three books from an unknown author in their inbox. I know that you want reviews on all of them and I completely understand how you feel, but this is a long game.
You might also ask your beta readers, friends, family (if the latter two read in your genre) writing group members (if you're part of a group) will provide an honest review. You need to be careful of anyone closely connected with you posting a review on amazon, however they can post on Goodreads, their own blogs or other sites where your book is available.
You could also join a few groups in the relevant genre here on Goodreads. Just search groups and find ones which interest you. The goal is to make connections so don't just arrive and ask people to read your book. See if there are other authors who would be willing to trade review for review - you read their book, they read yours. You'll need to check group guidelines etc. The best thing you can do is make friends in the bookish community.
See how you get on with some of those suggestions. Hopefully a few of them will lead to other things you can try. Best of luck, Jules
J.A. Ironside
Far too many to list all of them. (My TBR pile would pose a fairly serious threat to the starship Enterprise at this point.) However I am especially looking forward to:
The Gentlemen'sGuide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Skulduggery Pleasant: Resurrection - Derek Lundy
Veiled in Moonlight (Ministry of Curiosities book 8) C.J. Archer
I also have a large pile of ARCs to work through, so really I'm just looking forward to getting some reading time!
The Gentlemen'sGuide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Skulduggery Pleasant: Resurrection - Derek Lundy
Veiled in Moonlight (Ministry of Curiosities book 8) C.J. Archer
I also have a large pile of ARCs to work through, so really I'm just looking forward to getting some reading time!
J.A. Ironside
Hi Carlos. I assume you mean the Indie author group? If so then we encourage authors to promote and ctoss promote. There us a book market folder and a book promotion zone which would suit you I believe (we restrict it to one thread in each per book in the interesrs of tidiness and fairness). You are also welcome to add your books to the group shelf. If yoy want to share blog posts please fo so in the general or writing advice folders, clearly title the new thread and include a bit of information and a link to the blog post. In general everyone is really friendly. Please do join in and interact - I've met some of the best authors I know in this group. Otherwise welcome and best of luck with your books. Feel free to drop me or one of the other MODs a message if you need help with anything group related. Good to have you aboard :)
Jules
Jules
J.A. Ironside
So sorry. I missed this. Please feel free to post a promotion - there's the book market folder and a promotions folder so whichever fits your needs best. If you are after reviewers again, please do say.
J.A. Ironside
Again I'm going to refer you to a blog post on this one - http://jaironside79.wix.com/aperfectd...
J.A. Ironside
You can go anywhere, be anyone, do anything and never leave your living room ;) You also learn a lot about yourself through your own writing.
J.A. Ironside
I think it would be better to refer to my blog where I answered this more thoroughly - http://chasedbywords.blogspot.co.uk/2...
J.A. Ironside
Quite a few things: a series of lesser known fairy tales set in a dark, dystopian future. A sequel to my forthcoming debut novel, I Belong to the Earth - coming early 2015.
A new trilogy set in current times but as n alternate history where two major events never happened and magic wielders - who inherit the ability through a warped gene - known as six-fingers, are persecuted against a boiling revolutionary back drop.
Check out my blog to find out more: http://chasedbywords.blogspot.co.uk/2...
A new trilogy set in current times but as n alternate history where two major events never happened and magic wielders - who inherit the ability through a warped gene - known as six-fingers, are persecuted against a boiling revolutionary back drop.
Check out my blog to find out more: http://chasedbywords.blogspot.co.uk/2...
J.A. Ironside
Try and find yourself a writing buddy. Or even better a supportive writing group. You will learn far more about your own creative process and the nuts and bolts of writing, from learning to critique other writers' work.
Read. Read. Read. Constantly, copiously, across as many genres as you can as well as widely within the genre you write in. As Stephen King said 'If you don't have time to read, then you have neither the time nor the tools to write.'
Read. Read. Read. Constantly, copiously, across as many genres as you can as well as widely within the genre you write in. As Stephen King said 'If you don't have time to read, then you have neither the time nor the tools to write.'
J.A. Ironside
It's not something I've ever really had a problem with. Writing a book is like following a path where you can get any and all kinds of weather on the way. If I get to a point where I can't see the path because of fog or heavy snow or flooding, but I can see where the bit that comes after the obstruction is going, I skip to that bit. Usually within 24 hrs I then know exactly what happens to connect the broken ends of the path, so I go back to it. I also make sure I've got several projects on the go at the same time. If for any reason my main project isn't compelling for a day or a week, I switch to another project. I intersperse it all with writing short stories and flash fiction - excellent palate cleansers and fun in their own right as they use a slightly different skill set to writing a novel. I imagine writing song lyrics or a play script would be similar. Poetry can be good discipline as well - though I write that far less nowadays.
The main thing with writers' block is to try and get out of your own way.
The main thing with writers' block is to try and get out of your own way.
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